


when bad turns to worse, at least i have you

by sebthealienn



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Din Djarin Needs a Hug, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, kinda angsty :/
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:35:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27930856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sebthealienn/pseuds/sebthealienn
Summary: the child sleeps. din takes a moment to think about things.
Relationships: Baby Yoda (The Mandalorian TV) & Din Djarin
Comments: 16
Kudos: 128





	when bad turns to worse, at least i have you

**Author's Note:**

> i haven't published anything on this website in over a year and this is what i choose to be my comeback story, so take that as you will.
> 
> i also wrote this in around 20 minutes while listening to a 10 hour loop of the mandalorian theme song. fun times.

The Razor Crest flies smoothly on autopilot, her route mapped and their surroundings clear. The ship is quiet, save for the faint rumble of the engine, the occasional rhythmic beeping of machinery, and the metallic, harsh sound of careful and small movements, disturbed by a shell of Beskar armor.

Din knows he should sleep. He’s exhausted, a type of exhaustion that he can feel everywhere. His chair is more comfortable than usual, and his eyelids are drooping even as he sits there, but his focus is instead on the tiny green being on his lap.

The child- Grogu, his brain supplies helpfully- is asleep. He has been for a while now, his three-fingered hands wrapped tightly around the arm that Din has securely across his body, his head tucked into the crook of Din’s elbow. The Beskar must be uncomfortable, but the kid doesn’t seem to mind, his large ears twitching in his sleep.

He looks so peaceful like this. Din sometimes forgets how much he’s been through, because he looks so young even though he’s older than Din himself, and the difference in their lifespans is something that Din has yet to wrap his head around.

He knows the child will outlive him. It’s inevitable. He knows that while he’s nearing the halfway point in his life, the child- Grogu- is still exactly that: a child. Din, if everything turns out okay, will know the child for the majority of his own life, but for the child, this will be only a small period of time, almost minimal, compared to how much longer he has to live.

But, of course, that is not guaranteed. Nothing is, right now. They’re headed for Tython with the sole purpose of finding a Jedi, because the child needs things that Din can’t give him and because he needs a Jedi to train him, and even though Ahsoka hadn’t wanted to do that, Din finds himself doubtful that the same kind of sentiment will be prevalent in any other Jedi they may encounter. And yet, he lets himself hope.

Din wonders, if they are separated, if the child will remember him. His first instinct is to say yes. The child’s attachment to him is obvious, and Ahsoka’s words had only solidified what Din had already known. He’s noticed the way the child looks at him, curious and happy and familiar; the way the child runs to him, high-pitched gurgling noises escaping him as he stretches his little arms up as far up as he can reach, squealing and shrieking until Din picks him up and holds him and rubs his back to settle him; the way the child has developed a personality around him, mischievous and excitable and carefree, giggling uncontrollably when Din makes the Crest spin in circles. Din recalls the look on the child’s face when he’d said his name out loud for the first time, the way he’d immediately answered to it with a small _doh_ and had smiled, eyes seeming larger and more captivating than usual, because he probably hadn’t heard that name since he’d been even younger, all those years ago. It’s like he’d been waiting for Din to say it.

Din has been trying not to get attached. He knows that he has a mission, that he has to return the child to his own kind, but he can’t help but smile whenever the child does almost anything, even when he’s not listening, and he holds the child more gently than before, holding the baby close to his chest and stroking his ears. He hadn’t realized it back then, but he’d been wrapped around the child’s finger ever since he’d risked his life to get him away from the Client, back when he was confused at why he was making such rash decisions, and why he couldn’t just accept the payment and get on with his life. He thinks he knows, now.

He hadn’t been able to hide his pride back on Corvus either, when the child had used the Force. Ahsoka had stood to the side, observing, a small, knowing smile on her face but well-concealed sadness in her eyes. Din doesn’t dwell on what she might’ve been thinking about.

The child is so young that Din falters at his initial answer. He knows that it’s a high possibility that if they get separated now, the child’s memories of him will fade until he’s not there anymore, even if _he_ will think about the child for the rest of his life. He knows he has to be prepared for that as well, but just the thought of it is so painful that he doesn’t want to be, almost.

The child- _Grogu_ , his brain corrects, more insistent this time- makes a soft noise. Din blinks down at him, feeling his eyes soften as he takes in Grogu’s sleeping form. His heart aches a little bit. He moves his other hand from the arm of his chair to the top of Grogu’s head, feeling the child's large green ears flatten beneath his palm. The kid is warm.

They’re getting closer to Tython by the second. Din doesn’t know what will happen there, but he has to be prepared for anything, and he doesn’t know if he is.

There’s really no doubt that Grogu will live longer than him, hundreds of years more, probably, so that when Din is old and frail and on his deathbed, Grogu will still be at the beginning stages of his life. Din knows he can’t do anything about that, that it’s something he will have to eventually accept, but suddenly he wants more time with the child than they will ever have. He wants to show Grogu the world, wants to teach him all he knows, wants to keep him safe and keep him happy and _love_ him, most of all, although he’ll need some practice at expressing it, but time is a thief. It’s already been a few months, and soon it’ll be a year, then five years, then ten years, and Din will be older than he is now, closer to leaving Grogu than he wants to be.

He swallows down the lump in his throat, blinking away the burning sensation in his eyes. He doesn’t want to cry. He hates crying. He just wants more time.

Din, for the first time in his life, wishes he was younger.

The child sleeps, undisturbed and innocent and unknowing.

**Author's Note:**

> din and grogu's father/son relationship will never not make me emotional :,)


End file.
